


Family knows best

by moonlight_petal



Series: We are family verse [14]
Category: MacGyver (TV 2016)
Genre: David knows what he wants, Daycare, Decisions, Family Feels, Fluff, Gen, Mac has issues, Separation Anxiety, Surprise Appearance, Team as Family, staging an intervention, they want Mac's best
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-26
Updated: 2020-05-26
Packaged: 2021-03-02 21:01:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,262
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24393205
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moonlight_petal/pseuds/moonlight_petal
Summary: The Phoenix Family thinks Mac has a problem and he needs to work it out.And of course they help him.
Relationships: Angus MacGyver & Matilda "Matty" Webber (MacGyver TV 2016), Jack Dalton & Angus MacGyver (MacGyver TV 2016), Riley Davis & Angus MacGyver (MacGyver TV 2016), Wilt Bozer & Angus MacGyver (MacGyver TV 2016)
Series: We are family verse [14]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1333873
Comments: 17
Kudos: 32





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Guys, loooong time, right? Sorry about that. I kind of lost my writing mojo for a while. I had hoped that the return of MacGyver on TV would trigger it again but that didn't work out the way I hoped, mostly because it made me miss Jack even more.  
> And then Covid-19 happened. I spent quite some time at home because my work place shut down for a while and my best friend said to me 'Hey you have a lot of time on your hands now, maybe you can write something.' And I thought, yeah, true. I sat down and next to nothing happened. I have a couple unfinished things now in my harddrive which frustrates me even more than having nothing at all but well.   
> Anyway, I finally finished this one and that means a lot to me. It didn't turn out exactly how I wanted it and I wouldn't necessarily call it 'good' but I do hope you enjoy it.
> 
> I hope you all are doing alright despite the pandemic and everything around it.
> 
> And please feel free to let me know, first, if you liked it and second if you do have other ideas for our Phoenix Family. I can't make any promises, but I'm grateful for ideas.
> 
> Okay, shutting up now.  
> Enjoy.

**_Family knows best_ **

It was beginning to look a lot like Christmas everywhere despite the sunny and still warm weather in LA. Decorations left and right, Christmas music playing in every shop and Christmas movies playing on loop on the TV.

It was business as usual like any other year. A year that had been all but usual for Mac and his little family.

With the start of December finally something like routine returned to the family and the Phoenix. After David's second birthday, their first family 'Trick-or-Treat' tour around the neighbourhood and Thanksgiving passing without incident, Mac had calmed down enough for Matty to send her top team out on missions again. Although still mindful of the length of those missions.

Other than that however, Mac still was reluctant to return to work at his lab. The room was still a mess and the blond didn't want to take David with him like he did before. He helped Bozer out in his lab from time to time but only when his son was in the care of his doting grandfather.

It disrupted the flow at the Phoenix still somewhat and led to the second weekend in December when the whole family had gathered at Mac and Bozer's to decorate since they hadn't been able to before due to a mission.

"Alright, boxes are over there, you know how this goes..." Mac greeted them with a smile.

David was down for a nap so that they would be able to get a lot of stuff done before he had to keep an eye on his whirlwind of a little boy.

"Yeah, no bud. We know what to do, alright, but you need to sit your butt down for a minute first." Jack replied, gently patting Mac's shoulder when he passed him.

The blond frowned.

"Why would I do that? We have work to do."

"We do, bro and we will come to that soon but first you need to listen to us, alright? Really *listen*!" Bozer joined in and actively pushed his friend down on the sofa.

Incredulously Mac huffed.

"What's going on, guys? Is this turning into another intervention? I thought we were past that stuff."

"Call it whatever you want, blondie but this has been a long time coming and by now really is overdue." even Matty said, crossing her arms in front of her chest. "We've been pushing this conversation for some time now because we realise you've had a trying few months with David and that you needed to heal from those shocks first but now it's time. Riley?" the small woman continued, then turned to the other woman who had been silent until now and looked a little uncomfortable when addressed.

"What is this about? Riley, what's going on?" Mac cautiously asked, looking from one to the other but not getting any clues from their expressions.

"It's about David and you, Mac. You are awesome with him but we think that you need to stop having him around all the time." the hacker started to explain.

Mac's face turned from confused to angry.

"What?" he growled in disbelief.

"Ah no, that came out entirely wrong... ah this is difficult, a little help here, guys?" she looked pleadingly at the others.

Jack stepped next to her, one warm hand gently on her back.

"It's not as bad as it sounds, buddy, noone doubts your abilities just hear her out. Tell him about that time back then, sweetheart..." the older encouraged Riley softly.

"Ah yeah, that's probably easiest..." Riley went and sat down next to Mac. "Do you remember that time when Jack and you got called in for duty and I stayed here with David alone?"

Still with a suspicious frown Mac nodded slowly.

"Yeah I remember, you said it hadn't been easy but you managed..."

"Yeah, that might have been a small understatement..." Riley confessed. "It's true that we managed and both of us survived those two days unscathed but it's honestly been far from easy. In the course of that day, I had to ask Bozer, my mom and Jack for advice." she sighed. "First of all that certainly doesn't speak for my babysitting capabilities, I'm sure but the heart of the matter is you, Mac. Naturally you're the center of David's universe but I - we think you both need to learn to let go a bit. For you to trust others to take care of David but mostly for him to learn that you can't be around him 24/7 and that he can rely on the rest of his family as well. And that there are also trustworthy people outside the family even."

Silently the blond swallowed, jaws clenched, thinking over what he just heard.

"Look bud, it's not like Riley's experience had been the only one. During those days you were in the hospital, it's been no cake-walk taking care of the little munchkin. He's so focused on you that we others don't have a chance. And I know for a fact that we had this conversation about co-dependency before." Jack continued Riley's explanation, sensing that Mac needed time and more information to work through everything he's confronted with now.

"What are you suggesting then?" Mac asked after a moment of tense silence.

"Well, in high hope that you can get your head back to work properly again, I had Riley research all the possibilities for daycare between here and the Phoenix and these-" Matty handed Mac a rather thick folder he hadn't noticed before. "-are the top five options in all the criteria the four of us agreed on for David's well-being. They all are Phoenix-vetted and clean. It's up to you now to decide." the Phoenix director said.

"You want me to put David in daycare? Seriously?" Mac asked softly, emotions running high under the calm exterior.

"Mac, think about it. After what happened, I totally get that you don't want to take him with you in the lab again. We got lucky once, no reason in pushing that luck even more but I seriously could use your brain in the lab on a more regular basis. But more importantly think of David. We all love and adore the little guy but he's two now and he needs playmates in the same age range. He needs to learn to get along with others and -as hard as it sounds- that the world doesn't revolve around him alone. He has no siblings to teach him the concept of sharing stuff properly, he needs other kids for that. And you my friend need to learn to let go as well." Bozer made his stand as well, detailing his main reasons for his part in this intervention.

"I fully understand that you have trust issues, kid, we all do, it's part and parcel of our line of work and nobody expects you to hand David over to just anyone. But Riley did a thorough job on those facilities and you better believe that we all had very high standards for them, if those are the top five, they are top five for a good reason. Now it's up to you and David to choose one of them. Visit them, talk to the people, let David play a little and if I know the little munchkin enough, he will let you know where he wants to go." Jack said, instinctively acknowledging Mac's main concerns.

"And you don't have to decide now. As Jack said, take your time going over everything I researched already, get a lay of the land so to speak and then David maybe can start there when the new year begins. A new year for new experiences." the hacker suggested, a gentle hand on Mac's arm.

Mac's brain was working in circles, it was a lot to take in after all. But finally he leaned into Riley's side a little, showing her without words that he wasn't upset anymore.

Finally he sighed, making eye contact with all four.

"I appreciate your work and concern, guys. I agree, Jack actually warned me about these things before and above all I appreciate that you gave me time after everything before you cornered me like this. I get what you're saying even if I don't necessarily like it, but I recognize the truth in your arguments. Thanks for the material, I'll work my way through that and when the time comes, I'll let you know, yeah?"

"That's all we really want, bro." Bozer smiled warmly at his friend but then he excitedly clapped his hands together. "Now let's get to work, yeah?"

With their combined energy and easy teamwork, they managed to put up the lights around the house and quite a bit of the other decorations before a loud and unhappy wail came from down the hall.

Mac was standing on top of a ladder and scrambled to get down but Jack caught his eye and shook his head.

"I have him, you finish up there!"

Jack found David standing inside his bed, hands on the rails, tears running down his cheeks and the blond and rather long hair, sleep mussed.

"Hey munchkin~ why are you making so much noise, eh?" he asked softly while entering the room.

The boy who expected to see and hear his father was startled silent by the appearance of his grandfather.

He easily let Jack lift him out of the bed, slinging arms and legs around the older man tightly.

"Daddy?" he asked.

Jack gently rubbed David's back to soothe away whatever had upset the boy before.

"Daddy is in the living room with uncle Bozer, auntie Riley and nana Matty." the older explained. "They are making your home pretty for Santa, you know?"

"Santa?" David replied, slightly confused but re-adjusting his grip around Jack's neck easily when the man changed his hold on the boy to check on his diaper situation.

"Yeah... soon Santa will visit all the little boys and girls around the world and bring them presents if they have been good through the year like you, munchkin!" Jack grinned. "With a sleigh and his reindeer and everything."

Jack made quick work with changing the kid which gave David in turn time to fully wake up and shake off the sleepiness. The older put small shoes on David's feet to prevent him from slipping on the floor and then set him down.

"You wanna go and see if uncle Bozer has a snack for you?" Jack asked and watch David rush off with a high-pitched battle cry.

The shortly following 'crash-oof-laughter' sounds told Jack that his little scheme had been successful and the picture in the living room proved that even more since Bozer was lying flat on his back in the middle of the floor with a giggling David on top while Riley was filming the chaos and Mac and Matty were shaking their heads albeit laughing as well.


	2. Chapter 2

Despite all good intentions and Mac's agreement that his family had a point with their intervention, it took the blond agent another week to actually bring himself to look at the various files Riley had put together.

It was a difficult thing for the young father and they all saw it, didn't want to push him even more for fear that Mac would shut down completely, however. All things considered, Bozer and Jack suspected that this separation would be way more difficult for Mac than for David when the time came.

Mac neatly sorted the information packages by distance to the Phoenix Headquarter, and then by the available programmes and lastly he took the proximity for further schooling into consideration. The father wasn't stupid, he knew that it would be nice for David to go to kindergarten and then school with the kids he made friends with in daycare.

This process helped him to further narrow down the five options he had been given by Riley down to three but now he would have to visit them with David to make a final decision.

"Any closer to a decision, bro?" Bozer asked gently, leaning against the doorway to the living area with a cup of coffee in hand. He hadn't even been extra quiet but he was aware that Mac hadn't heard him coming, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to watch Mac stare at the three stacks of paper, deep in thought.

Mac startled, blinked up at his friend.

"Yes and no... now it's mostly up to David, even if it breaks my heart." He sighed, turning his gaze back to the papers. "And don't start, I know you were right... *are* right, doesn't change the way I feel about it."

Silently Bozer sat down next to his oldest friend.

"And how is that? I mean I know it's difficult, I think it's difficult for every parent at first, but knowing you, there's more to this than mere separation anxiety."

Mac mulled this statement over in his head for a moment before he looked back at Bozer.

"I suppose you're right... the heart of the matter probably is my own childhood, I'm kind of afraid that I'm subjecting David to the same shit I went through. Sending him to daycare, dumping the responsibility for his upbringing and education on someone else, being absent... I mean, he doesn't realise it yet but there is already a big chance that Nikki choosing to leave him will prove to be a lasting issue for him and now me? How is that different to...?"

Bozer put his cup down slowly and turned more towards the blond.

"Let me stop you before this goes any further. Mac, all this..." he pointed at the papers. "... has *nothing* to do with your dad leaving. It's not even remotely the same thing. You lost your mum in a very tragic way and your dad couldn't cope with that. He chose to be selfish when he left, *you* on the other hand are doing it *for* David. And it's not like you're leaving him permanently like your dad did with you. And it's true that Nikki's absence might become a problem at some point but it's on us to make sure to teach him that he's loved and that it had nothing to do with him personally then. We will cross that bridge when and if we come to it but daycare isn't similar to what James did to you, Mac. You do understand that, right?"

Mac swallowed thickly.

"I suppose so, it's just this insecurity, the fear of doing something wrong all over again."

Bozer grinned at that, softly patting Mac's thigh.

"Yeah well, being a parent is a long line of trial and error, I guess. But you were scared of making mistakes in the beginning as well and look how well you managed all this. This is just the next step in learning and adapting, that should be easy for you, you're doing the right thing. And hey, between us two? In the unlikely event this doesn't work out, you still can go back to stay-at-home dad, but give it a proper and honest chance."

"I will, Boze, I promise..." the blond sighed, resolutely picking up one of the stacks of paper and the phone to make the first appointment.

~*~

"Mister MacGyver, welcome to 'Little Cubs Daycare'. And you must be David..." the older woman smiled openly at the blond man and the little boy currently hiding behind Mac's leg. "I'm Ms Evans, the senior director of this facility, please come in..."

~

That first visit ended up to be a small disaster. Ms Evans, although she probably didn't mean to, spoke to Mac in a rather patronising way, trying to put him into the box of the 'out of his depth' single father who definitely needed her help to cope with David. After about five minutes of that, Mac was already on edge and had to work hard at staying cool and polite.

Luckily (for Mac) David obviously disliked the woman as well which at first he showed by persistently hiding behind Mac and then by throwing a massive tantrum when she tried to talk to him in an extrememly babied up tone of voice that David wasn't used to and obviously didn't tolerate.

All in all the conversation didn't last more than half an hour and they didn't even make it further into the daycare.

To make it up to David they spent about the rest of the day at their favourite playground, Mac keeping an eye on his son and occasionally helping him out and David excitedly climbing up the small towers, using the swings and building castles in the sandbox for hours.

~*~

"Mister MacGyver? Welcome to the 'Happy Trails Childcare Center'. My name is Tracy and I'm the head teacher of the Sand Trails group." The young, brown-haired woman smiled brightly at Mac and shook his hand warmly before slowly and carefully dropping to her knees and looking at David. "And I'm sure you must be David, right?" she smiled at the boy, waving at him and giving him enough time to look at her and to decide for himself what to do.

"Hello..." David mumbled finally, still halfway behind Mac's leg and obviously unsure how to handle the stranger.

"Nice to meet you, David. Would you like to join the others while I talk with you daddy? They are playing outside..." Tracy waited another moment, then looked up at the young father when David's eyes questioningly went up as well.

"You can if you want but you don't have to, alright? And I'll be close by at all times." Mac gently said, ruffling David's hair when the boy nodded in agreement.

Tracy got up on her feet and led father and son through the building to the garden on the other side where a whole bunch of kids were running around.

The blond boy was a little taken aback at first since he never really had played *with* other kids, at the playground it was more like *next to* other kids. But with a little encouragement of the two adults, David ventured out into the garden where he was quickly surrounded by other kids his age.

"He's a nice kid, a little shy maybe but I'm sure he'll grow out of that soon enough." the teacher commented. "Alright, how do you want this? Should I start by telling you about the Center or should I show you around first? Or do you want to skip that altogether and start straight with the questions? I'm open to everything, however you like."

"I'm sure I do have questions but let's start with you telling me about the center while I keep an eye on my son for now. It's his first time... if he's alright you can show me around." Mac decided after considering the options for a moment, his eyes never leaving David.

~

This second visit went much better overall. The young teacher took her time explaining everything to Mac, never taking offence at his continued attention to David.

They had been talking for well over twenty minutes before the young father had been convinced enough that he would be able to leave his son alone for a moment while Tracy showed him the rooms inside.

That proved to be a mistake in the end even if neither Mac nor Tracy would have been able to prevent what happened after they left.

The young teacher was showing Mac the nap room and explaining to him how they handled that usually when a piercing scream took away all of Mac's attention. Even with all the children around, Mac recognised his son. With military and Phoenix-honed reflexes he was already halfway outside before Tracy really reacted to the scream and crying.

Mac quickly gather David in his arms, calming his little boy the best he could. Another teacher who had stayed with the kids was soothing another boy while two others stood a few steps away, upset and guilty expressions on their little faces.

"I didn't see everything but my best guess is they had a disagreement over the sandcastle or something and they started to push each other." the other teacher quickly explained the issue.

Mac nodded tensely.

"Is that true, baby bug? Did you hurt yourself?" he murmured softly.

David was still hiccuping, tears rolling down his cheeks but he shook his head.

"Go home now?" were the first words he finally said, slowly calming down.

"You want to go home? Alright, I think we can do that. The nice lady showed me everything already, right?"

Mac looked at Tracy who had arrived only moments after Mac himself.

"The last thing would have been the kitchen but I guess that's not the most important thing right now." she replied understandingly.

"You might be right. Thank you very much for your time, I really appreciate the tour you've given me. I'll have to think this over and talk with him about this when he calmed down again. I'll let you know soon if that's alright." Mac said, indicating David with a small nod.

"Take your time, Mister MacGyver. I understand it's a big decision for you and your son. You know where you can reach me if any further questions pop up." the teacher smiled.

"Thank you again." Mac shook her hand again. "We'll be taking our leave then. Do you want to say good-bye to the nice lady and the others, David?" he asked finally.

"Bye..." David mumbled, not looking up at all. "Home... Papa?"

Mac smiled a little apologetically as he turned to leave, but chuckled then.

"You want to go home and see grandpa? Well, David, I'll see what I can do..."

~*~

It had taken Jack some prodding, patience and interpretation to get the full story of what went down at the Daycare Center out of David and what he had heard, he hadn't exactly liked. Sure, it was a subjective re-telling of the story but it seemed to him that the other kids had ganged up on his precious munchkin and he couldn't tolerate bullying, even less so at this young age.

It had been a moot point anyway since David had been adamant that he didn't want to return there ever again.

Mac knew that this experience would make the last visit a lot more difficult but he had promised to give it a good and honest try.

~

That last visit, at the 'Helping Hands Daycare' did start off a little differently already when the two MacGyvers arrived there.

(Secretly it was already Mac's favourite in terms of his standards but all that would mean nothing if David didn't like it there.)

Differently to the two previous daycares where they were greeted at the door already, Mac and David walked inside unhindered and were able to take in their surroundings without a strange presence nearby already. Everything was in bright colours and with lots of animals painted to the walls which Mac proceeded to point out to his son.

"Oh, hello!" an older woman called from a doorway across the room that led to a small office. She had obviously graying hair and quite a lot of laughter lines around her eyes but a very open and warm expression on her face. "Sorry, I haven't heard you come in, we had a little accident earlier and we had to make sure that both of this young lady's knees were still in working order. Good news, everything is just fine, right Yumi?"

"Right!" the small, slightly Asian looking girl grinned. The two of them came out of the office and Yumi smiled up at Mac. "Look... a princess star..." she declared, holding out her little hand with a sticker for Mac to see.

"Very pretty, indeed. And it fits perfectly with you princess shirt." Mac grinned back, pointedly looking at the pink Rapunzel shirt the girl wore.

The girl beamed with pride, quickly diverting her attention to David.

"Who's this?" she asked, pointing at him.

Mac smiled, dropping to eye-level with David and Yumi.

"This is my son, David. We came today to see if he likes it here, if he does he might become a new playmate for all of you." Mac explained.

"Really? Cool! I'm Yumi, come play..." she grinned, grabbing David's hand.

"Ah, ah... Yumi, what did we say about that?" the older woman asked in a strict voice.

The girl let go of David's hand again and sheepishly looked at her feet.

"Not everyone likes to be touched. Not to be bossy and... and to ask nicely." she said softly, apparently not for the first time if Mac was right.

"That's right. So?"

"You want to come and play?" the girl turned back to David and asked nicely, quickly looking back to the older woman to see if she had done it right. She got a warm smile and nod in return.

"David? You want to go and play with Yumi?" Mac asked, gently rubbing his son's back.

The blond boy thoughtfully nibbled on his lower lip.

"You stay?" he asked his father.

"Of course, I'll stay close, you just have to call if you need something, alright?" Mac promised.

This assurance helped David to agree with Yumi's invitation and soon the two kids ran away together, Yumi happily babbling.

"That went surprisingly well..." Mac murmured and the woman chuckled.

"Bad experiences?"

"In a way... it's been David and me, well and our family, so far which surely was my fault, but there was a small incident at our last visit... anyway, this definitely was the best start we had so far." Mac rambled.

"Well, I'm glad to hear it. I'm Gladys Richard, 'officially' I'm the director and owner of 'Helping Hands'." Mac marvelled at the warm and strong handshake that spoke of competence and confidence.

"Angus MacGyver, nice to meet you. If you don't mind me asking, what do you mean 'officially'?" he asked, curious.

Mrs Richard chuckled once again.

"Not at all, Mister MacGyver. 'Officially' because that's just what's on the papers, in reality, for the kids and their parents alike, I'm pretty much whatever they need, starting with story teller, helper, consoler to teacher and advice giver and anything and everything in between. However, I'm sure you can appreciate that that's a little much for a job description." she smiled again. "Now, I guess you've done your homework and read already everything there is about the 'Helping Hands' Daycare that's connected to the kindergarten and school as well, am I right? Well let's have a look at the real thing then, shall we?"

Mac couldn't help but feel understood and safe in the presence of the older woman who probably was a little older than his mother would have been were she still alive. She explained and answered all his questions with ease and Mac really was glad that the daycare didn't just look nice on paper but proved to be even better.

"...some kids at the school -those who went here as well as others- come over after class to play with the little ones or read to them and naturally help them with settling into the new environment when they start school themselves later on. We encourage that of course but we make it a point not to force anyone to do it." Mrs Richard explained to Mac when the door opened behind them.

"Hey Mrs Richard... Mr MacGyver?" the voice of the newcomer turned from obviously smiling to a little insecure.

Mac immediately tensed, the hair at the back of his neck standing up when he turned and looked at the boy whose features were so much like his father's even if they hadn't much else in common.

"Cassian? That's a surprise." Mac said forcing himself to calm down.

"You know each other?" Mrs Richard asked in surprise, gently pulling the boy into the room, her arm around him.

"Just a little, we met before. His boss... err, she managed the stuff with my foster family..." Cassian explained, stumbling over his words a bit since the official story was a bit different from what actually went down with his father and MacGyver and so on.

"Ah, I see. Well, good thing she did, otherwise we probably wouldn't have met. Cassian is a regular here. He's at the school around the corner and ever since he started there, almost without fail he comes over after school once a week to read and play." Mrs Richard told Mac, her voice brimming with pride for the shy boy next to her.

That Mac was surprised would have been an understatement but he also sensed that the foster family and everything else had done Cassian good already in the time since he last saw him.

"Is that so? That's really nice of you, Cassian. So you're doing alright?" he asked gently.

"Yes, everything's good. My family is really nice and school is mostly alright, too. The kids here are amazing." Cassian beamed and made Mac laugh with his enthusiasm.

For a moment he wondered if he should ask after the 'mostly' in his statement but figured that he would have opportunity for that some other time if this arrangement worked out for David.

"I'm glad to hear that, could be that we meet more often if David likes it here which -between the three of us- I think is almost safe to say already given that he hasn't called for me once since we arrived."

"Speaking of, should we take a look where your little one got to, Mr MacGyver? And you, go on, you know your way around, have fun." she ruffled the boys hair and with a silent 'bye Mr MacGyver, see you around' he skipped off, soon swarmed by a small army of children.

"He's really good with them and they're doing wonders for his self-confidence." Mrs Richard smiled, leading Mac into the next room, where David was sitting surrounded by Yumi and two other kids. Mac's son was currently building a block tower while the others watched him with awe.

"I think David would fit right in with us, Mr MacGyver." Mrs Richard said, watching them as well.

"It would seem so, yes. As I said, I think it's safe to say that David liked it here. I'll see what he has to say about this experience and I have to think about everything myself as well. I will call you by the end of the week at the latest if that's alright with you." Mac said.

"That's perfectly alright. I understand that it's a big step for the both of you. But be sure that there will be a place here for David, come the new year, should you want it. I for one look forward to see you two again."

The two adults shook hands again and Mac felt better than ever before in regards to the decision to send David to daycare. The others would be glad to hear it, he was sure.

~

Getting David to leave had been the bigger problem that day. He had been almost unwilling to leave his new friends behind and Mac was a little ashamed to admit that he bribed his son with ice-cream when they were home.

'Helping Hands' daycare would be a new adventure for the both of them but Mac was a lot calmer now that he had seen it himself and he was glad that he had listened to his family.


End file.
